Christmas Port…

I’m about 4hrs and 1 ride away from decanting and consuming a 20yo Taylor’s Tawny for Christmas Eve.  Maybe a bit “standard” in Port terms but anyway, whatcha got?

Hobgoblin, because I’m neither 75 or middle class

Niepoort The Senior tawny, because I drink what I like instead of worrying about appearances.

I’m at my mum’s so the port option is whatever’s left in a bottle of standard Cockburn’s which has been maturing in its opened bottle since at least last Christmas.

I’ll still give it a go!

I’ll still give it a go!

It will be well past its best. You can’t really leave Ruby port for long once the bottle has been opened as it oxidises and changes taste.

Tawny is already fairly oxidised so isn’t affected so much, so if you’re not going to drink the bottle, drink tawny 🙂

My brother in law is coming for Boxing Day and likes a tipple, so we might break open something but I’ve actually got a Sauternes that needs drinking so it might be that instead.

Hobgoblin, because I’m neither 75 or middle class

So you’re 60 and really boring? Hobgoblin is so mediocre I think I’d rather drink a sweet sherry.

I have a six miniature port selection to get through this christmas including a white one. Might make notes.

Qualifier: I’m not even 40 and 50/50 scum and gentry.

It will be well past its best. You can’t really leave Ruby port for long once the bottle has been opened as it oxidises and changes taste

Thanks Oz Clarke, but it’ll be fine with a good slug of R White’s and a slice of lemon in it.

I must have missed the how do you drink your pimms thread back in June 😕

Thanks Oz Clarke, but it’ll be fine with a good slug of R White’s and a slice of lemon in it.

😱😱

There’s a half bottle of 1999 Kopke Colheita due to be broached later today.

I’m 75 (well nearly) and middle class so I wouldn’t spit in Hobgoblin.

I will be drinking some lovely Nieport 10 year old white however.

OP, have you seen the minging weather forecast…
Couple more hours and you’ll be able to drink whichever one you like
😝🤣🤩

I wouldn’t spit in Hobgoblin

Not 75 for a while and love my craft beer/real ale but agree 100% with that. They do have good marketing, I’ll give them that.

Bog standard Taylor’s LBV for me. A local tradition round here is to drink it warm. Stand an unopened bottle in front of the log burner, rotating every 5 minutes until the cork pops. Sounds minging but is a revelation, especially if you’ve been outside in the cold.

I don’t mean to brag,

I don’t mean to boast,

but I’ll be drinking:

At my Christmas toast. 

with apologies to the Beastie Boys. 

My Godfather bought me a case of port the year I was born and presented it to me when I was 21. Luckily 1977 turned out to be an excellent vintage. It’s only recently I’ve started dipping into the odd bottle for New Years Eve. Intending to open bottle number four this year. 

I’m off to Grimsby in a minute, does that count?

My Godfather bought me a case of port the year I was born and presented it to me

Username checks out….😉

y Godfather bought me a case of port the year I was born

That’s some excellent predicting, that you would like port! Or a way to pass down the taste for vintage port 😉

We’ve got some sainsburies lbv for Santa.

I’m hoping Santa will bring me something I’ve not tried before.

Recommend mesome port under £20

I’ve never tried a vintage port that was 2x better than lbv. As some of the vintage stuff has been a load more than 2x lbv, lbv is where I stick 😉

I also enjoy Hobgoblin- clearly I’m on the wrong threads

If it’s gone off then some Blue WKD will see you right.

Was never a port drinker but opened a bottle last year, think it’s ruby. Will report back later.

Can also confirm Hobgoblin ain’t all that, mostly because it’s just another megabrewery product. I don’t really bother with Wychwood these days.l which is a shame as they used to be decent.

Username checks out….😉

For the OP Taylor’s 20 year old tawny is lovely, the 30 is only slightly better although much more expensive. I always get a bottle of Warre’s from my nephew so that’ll be me.

Think that I’m going to have to brave Christmas Eve madness and go and get myself a bottle! Probably just be standard M and S fayre (closest shop)

*Aged 37. Was very working class, now very middle class (not got rid of the accent mind). Don’t mind a Hobgoblin either.

@sanername My birth year and Mrs S birth year were not good vintages at all (little or no individual house declared and not a full declaration). If it’s been kept well then it should be like angels crying on your tongue!

So it’s a bottle of Porto Quevedo, no idea where that sits in the grand scheme but still tastes good, looks like hardly any was used last year!

Well, as you asked…
Fletchers 10 year Tawny. Aldi’s own, but very drinkable indeed.
Kopke 1999 Colheita.
Some kind of LBV from M&S that was gifted.
Offley Boa Vista 1994 Vintage.
Grahams 40 year Tawny.
Fonseca 30 year Tawny.

I’ll take any of those over a Hobgoblin.

I don’t know exactly what it is but there’s a picture of an owl on the label.

If it’s been kept well then it should be like angels crying on your tongue!

@sandwich- what exact port tastes that good?

All the port, vintage or otherwise, I’ve had has tasted like port. The more expensive it has gotten the more people have looked at me expecting me to say how amazing it was.

Closest I’ve got to angels crying on my tongue was a custard cream. Just a standard one. Here’s my recipe:
– no food for 48h
– drip in arm
– general anaesthetic for minor operation
– some sort of drugs, no idea what they were
– one totally standard NHS custard cream.

It was, genuinely, the best food I’ve ever had. Unbelievable. When I said this to the nurse and asked for a second, she gave me a proper -are you on drugs look.

The second one tasted…. Like a normal custard cream. I was very, very disappointed then passed out for an unspecified number of hours.

Sometime between now and New Year’s Day…1980 Taylors and Graham’s 20 year tawny; there’s also a Dow’s 1983 but that will keep for many more years.

I’ve returned from a tough 4 hours in the wind to see Hobgoblin in a Port thread.  The world has gone truly mad even though I’m 51 and working class.

Anyway, the riding is done so let the food & drinking frenzy begin.   Its a couple of Beers whilst watching Elf with the family now, then at about 6pm the Cheese & Port finds its way in the lounge.   Its a big day, Junior was declared free of his dairy allergy mid year so he’s been ramping up the dairy over 6 months so he can join in the Christmas cheese for the first time ever, what a treat.

Happy Christmas.

@tallmartin any that has been well cellared. I don’t keep port at home as I have nothing to store it in.

Grahams 10 YO Tawny here,!

Too windy in the Humber for a sharper photo! This bit may have been Cleethorpes or even Fitties.

@onehundredthidiot